1. Field of the Invention
An aspect of this disclosure relates to a translation support apparatus, a translation delivery period setting method, and a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
When products, such as office automation (OA) equipment, are exported to a foreign country, their manuals in an original language (e.g., English) need to be translated into the language of the foreign country.
There exists a translation support system that can centrally manage, on the Web, a series of processes related to a manual translation project involving a manufacturer of a product and a translation company (see, for example, Japanese Patent No. 3771159 and Japanese Patent No. 4049299). Such processes may include preparing an original text of a manual for the product, placing an order for translation of the manual with the translation company, translating the manual, proofreading the translated manual, delivering the translated manual, publishing (editing or printing), and sending a bill.
More specifically, a manual translation project to be managed with such a translation support system may generally include the following steps:
(1) A manufacturer prepares an original text.
(2) The manufacturer places an order for translation of the original text with a translation company.
(3) The translation company translates the original text.
(4) A proofreader at the manufacturer proofreads the translated text.
(5) The translation company delivers the translated text to the manufacturer.
(6) The manufacturer prepares a manual based on the translated text using a desktop publishing system.
(7) The manufacturer pays the bill for the translation to the translation company.
(1) The manufacturer prepares an original text of a manual. For example, the original text may be prepared in Japanese. Alternatively, the original text may be prepared in English when it is to be translated into multiple languages.
(2) The manufacturer, for example, obtains quotations for translation of the original text from multiple translation companies via the translation support system and selects one of the translation companies based on the quotations. Then, the manufacturer places an order for translation of the original text with the selected translation company. Also in this step, a delivery period (a period of time necessary to complete the translation, or delivery time) of a translated text is determined based on the amount of translation work.
(3) When receiving the original text via the translation support system from the manufacturer, the translation company divides the original text into parts and assigns the parts to translators. The translators translate the assigned parts of the original text within the delivery period. Each translator accesses the translation support system via a Web browser, and efficiently translates the assigned part of the original text using a translation memory (described later) provided by the translation support system on a Web screen. When translation of all parts of the original text is completed, the translated text is sent via the translation support system to the manufacturer.
(4) On a Web screen of the translation support system, a proofreader of the manufacturer proofreads the translated text to find errors including translation errors. If an error is found in the translated text, the proofreader corrects the error by himself/herself, or asks the translation company to request the corresponding translator to correct the error and send a corrected translated text.
(5) After the proofreading, the final translated text (or translated manual) is formally delivered from the translation company to the manufacturer.
(6) The manufacturer (or the translation company) edits the final translated text (or translated manual) using a DTP application to prepare a PDF file.
(7) Then, the manufacturer creates a payment bill based on the performed translation work using the translation support system and pays a translation fee to the translation company based on the payment bill. Generally, a translation fee is calculated based on an amount of money obtained by multiplying the number of translated words by a price per word.
As described above, a translation support system can centrally manage a series of processes (or steps) in a translation project on the Web. Also, a translation support system provides various tools for supporting, for example, translators and proofreaders to efficiently perform their jobs.
For example, a translation tool including a translation memory is provided to support translators to efficiently translate text. The translation memory is a database (DB) storing previously translated sentences (translation data) in association with original sentences (hereafter, for descriptive purposes, original sentences in the translation memory may be referred to as source sentences). With the translation tool, when translating an original sentence, a translator can retrieve, from the translation memory, a previously translated sentence associated with a source sentence that is the same as or similar to the original sentence, and thereby automatically translate the original sentence using the retrieved previously translated sentence. Thus, with the translation tool, the translator needs to newly translate only those parts of an original text that cannot be automatically translated. Accordingly, the translation tool makes it possible to improve translation efficiency.
Here, when proofreading a translated text translated using the translation tool, it may be sufficient to proofread only the newly translated parts (i.e., parts other than those automatically translated using the translation memory) of the translated text. For this reason, a proofreading tool is provided to support proofreaders to efficiently proofread a translated text that is translated using the translation tool including the translation memory. The proofreading tool allows the proofreader to distinguish parts of a translated text that are automatically translated using the translation memory from parts of the translated text that are newly translated by the translator, and thereby allows the proofreader to proofread and edit only the newly translated parts.
Thus, the translation tool including the translation memory enables a translator to automatically translate an original sentence by retrieving, from the translation memory, a previously translated sentence associated with a source sentence that is the same as or similar to the original sentence, and thereby allows the translator to newly translate only parts of an original text that cannot be automatically translated.
Meanwhile, as described in step (2) above, a delivery period of a translated text is normally determined based on the amount of translation work, and the amount of translation work is normally determined based on the total number of words in an original text to be translated. When the amount of translation work is large, a long delivery period is set; and when the amount of translation work is small, a short delivery period is set.
Here, when a translation tool including a translation memory as described above is used, it may not be appropriate to determine the amount of translation work based on the total number of words in an original text. For example, assuming that the total number of words in an original text to be translated is 14000 and a translator can translate 2000 words per day, the delivery period is set at seven days. However, when the translation tool is used, since the translator may be able to automatically translate some parts of the original text using previously translated sentences retrieved from the translation memory, the delivery period may be reduced. Thus, when the translation tool is used, it is difficult to determine an appropriate delivery period based simply on the total number of words in an original text.